Thailand's Demographic Crisis: Growing Old Before Growing Rich

Boonma Klahan begins her day by bathing, dressing, and feeding her 85-year-old mother, who suffers from dementia and spends her days on a thin mattress on the wooden floor of their family home. After preparing breakfast for her 87-year-old father, Boonma rides her motorcycle to her job as a health assistant for 22 other elderly people in a poor farming village west of Bangkok.

Boonma’s story is a real portrait of the demographic crisis hitting Thailand. The country is growing old before it has had a chance to grow rich. Its society is ageing extremely rapidly, but without the adequate pension systems and personal savings found in developed countries.

One in six Thai citizens is now over the age of 65. This phenomenon is the result of a decline in birth rates that began in the 1970s. Within a decade, Thailand’s fertility rate plummeted from an average of nearly six children per woman to just two. Currently, the fertility rate stands at 0.9, far below the United States’ rate of 1.6 and less than half the level needed to maintain a stable population.

Boonma, now 57, is beginning to feel the physical toll of her work. Without the aid of a hospital bed or specialised medical equipment, her back and knees are strained from lifting elderly patients. Financially, she survives on a monthly wage of approximately Rp1.4 million (US$90), supplemented by her parents’ government old-age allowance of Rp780,000 (US$50) and remittances from her children.

A 2024 survey by Thailand’s statistics office revealed alarming conditions: 45% of Thais over the age of 60 have no savings at all, while a further 35% have savings of less than Rp47 million (US$3,000). As a result, two-thirds of elderly people requiring physical support rely heavily on their children as caregivers.

Minister of Social Development and Human Security, Nikorn Soemklang, acknowledged that the shrinking workforce will reduce national productivity. The government is now trying to encourage a higher birth rate. However, Thailand’s economy, which remains dependent on labour-intensive industries such as tourism and agriculture, makes this transition particularly difficult.

In rural areas like Nong Bua Hing, around 80% of the population is already over 60, as younger generations move to major cities like Bangkok to earn a living. Although social networks in rural areas remain relatively strong, these bonds are beginning to fray in rapidly growing urban centres.

The government is currently piloting an elderly care model in which neighbours or family members are paid to look after elderly individuals living alone. One recipient is Lucksana Tohtakarn, 67, who receives about Rp940,000 (US$60) per month to care for her neighbour, Aran Inthakul, 71, a former mechanic who has difficulty moving after a fall. Without broader policy interventions and a robust social security system, Thailand faces the risk of a humanitarian crisis amid its ageing population.